48 Email Marketing Trends and Statistics (2023-2026)
Discover the latest email marketing statistics from 2023-2026. Learn key trends: AI adoption rising to 57%, mobile dominance at 61%, and ROI averaging $36-$42 per $1 spent.
Key Takeaways
- 4.59 billion people worldwide used email in 2025, representing 56% of the global population
- In 2023, the average email open rate across ecommerce campaigns rose to 25.1%, up from 22.9% in 2022
- $36 return for every $1 spent: email marketing's average ROI, per Litmus
- 63% of marketers now use AI tools in their email marketing campaigns
- 55% of all emails are opened on mobile devices
Email Usage and User Growth (2023-2026)
Email remains one of the most widely adopted communication channels globally. With over 4.4 billion users today and projected growth to nearly 4.9 billion by 2027, email usage continues to climb year over year. Understanding the scale of email adoption helps marketers recognize why this channel remains essential for reaching audiences.
4.59 billion people worldwide used email in 2025, representing 56% of the global population
Email has reached a scale that no other direct marketing channel can match. With more than half the world's population now using email, it gives marketers a uniquely broad and direct line to consumers across every demographic and geography.
4.73 billion email users are projected by 2026, up from 4.0 billion in 2020
That is an addition of roughly 730 million users in just six years. For marketers, this sustained growth means the addressable audience for email campaigns continues to expand year over year, even as other digital channels face saturation.
376.4 billion emails were sent and received globally every day in 2025, a 4% increase over 2024
Daily email volume climbed from 361.6 billion in 2024 to 376.4 billion in 2025, and it is projected to reach 408.2 billion by 2027. This consistent 4% compound annual growth rate underscores how deeply embedded email is in both personal and professional communication.
In 2024, the United States sent the most emails of any country at 9.7 billion per day
Germany (8.5 billion) and Ireland (8.4 billion) ranked second and third, while the Netherlands, UK, and France each sent 8.3 billion daily. This geographic concentration highlights where email infrastructure and marketing activity are most intense, and where deliverability standards are strictest.
88% of email users check their inbox multiple times a day, with 42% checking 3 to 5 times daily
Only 3% of users go a full day without checking email. This checking frequency means email is one of the few channels where your message has a reliable window for daily visibility, making it far more consistent for reach than social media feeds governed by algorithm.
58% of email users check their inbox before checking social media or news each morning
Email is the first digital touchpoint of the day for a majority of users. For marketers, this means a well-timed morning send can be the very first message a subscriber sees, giving email a priority position in the daily attention window that other channels rarely achieve.
The average email user maintains 1.86 email accounts, producing an estimated 8.3 billion total accounts worldwide
Most users keep separate accounts for work and personal use. For marketers, this means list segmentation by account type and context is not just good practice; it reflects how users actually organize their digital lives and attention.
Global email marketing revenue grew from $7.5 billion in 2020 to a projected $17.9 billion by 2027, a 13.3% CAGR
The email marketing industry more than doubled in value over seven years, driven by greater adoption of automation, AI-powered personalization, and tighter integration with ecommerce platforms. This growth trajectory makes a strong case for sustained or increased budget allocation.
Engagement Metrics and Open Rates
Email engagement metrics reveal how subscribers interact with campaigns. Open rates, click rates, and click-to-open rates (CTOR) show the effectiveness of subject lines, content, and overall campaign strategy. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection has inflated open rates since 2021, making CTOR and CTR more reliable indicators of true engagement.
In 2023, the average email open rate across ecommerce campaigns rose to 25.1%, up from 22.9% in 2022
Omnisend analyzed over 23 billion marketing emails sent by ecommerce merchants in 2023 and found open and click rates at four-year highs. While Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) contributes to inflated open rates industry-wide, the parallel rise in click rates confirms that genuine engagement also improved.
Between 2022 and 2023, the average email open rate rose from 26.8% to 39.64%, while average CTR climbed from 1.89% to 3.2%
GetResponse analyzed more than 4.4 billion messages sent by customers in 2023. The growth in CTR is particularly significant because, unlike open rates, click-through rates are not distorted by Apple MPP auto-opens, making the CTR increase a reliable sign of stronger subscriber engagement.
In 2023, US email click-to-open rates (CTOR) rose to 9.5%, up from 8.7% in 2022
CTOR measures the share of openers who actually click, making it a more reliable engagement signal than open rates alone, which are inflated by MPP. A rising CTOR indicates that email content and calls-to-action became more compelling year-over-year, independent of inbox delivery fluctuations.
Automated emails ended 2023 with a 42.1% open rate and a 5.4% click rate, compared to 25.1% and 1.5% for campaign emails
Omnisend's 2023 year-end data shows automated emails dramatically outperform broadcast campaigns on every engagement metric. Despite making up only 2% of all email sends in 2023, automated emails generated 41% of all email-driven orders, underscoring how behavioral targeting drives both engagement and revenue.
The average cross-industry email CTR in 2023 was 3.25%, with triggered emails reaching 5.02%
GetResponse benchmark data shows that triggered, behavior-based emails consistently outperform standard newsletter campaigns on click-through rate. Since CTR is not affected by MPP, it serves as the most trustworthy signal of real audience engagement in a post-MPP measurement environment.
In 2023, the Communications sector recorded the highest email open rate at 65.1%, up from 48.8% in 2022
GetResponse industry data shows significant variation in open rates by sector. Non-profit open rates also jumped from 39.7% to 54.5% in the same period, with CTR rising from 3.2% to 6.7%. These sector-level gains in CTR confirm real engagement growth, not just MPP inflation.
57.8% of marketers globally reported email open rates of between 20% and 50% in their 2023 campaigns
Statista survey data reflects how widely open rate performance varies across senders, industries, and list qualities. The wide range also reflects the uneven impact of Apple MPP adoption across different subscriber bases, reinforcing why marketers should benchmark against their own historical data alongside industry averages.
The average email click rate in 2025 reached 2.09%, with industry CTOR ranging from 2.96% to 14.82% across sectors
MailerLite's benchmark data based on millions of campaigns shows that click rate and CTOR vary substantially by industry. Manufacturing led CTOR at 14.82%, while politics ranked lowest at 2.96%. Because click rate is not affected by MPP image pre-fetching, it is currently the most accurate indicator of true email engagement.
Email Marketing ROI and Business Impact
Email marketing delivers exceptional return on investment compared to other digital channels. With average ROI between $36 and $42 for every dollar spent, email consistently outperforms social media, banner ads, and SMS. These numbers demonstrate why marketers continue investing heavily in email strategies.
$36 return for every $1 spent: email marketing's average ROI, per Litmus
Litmus's State of Email research, consistently cited across the industry, puts the average email marketing ROI at $36 per dollar spent. This 3,600% return outperforms every major digital channel, including SEO, paid search, and social media advertising.
In 2023, 52% of marketers saw their email marketing ROI double compared to the prior year
A Mailmodo survey of marketing professionals worldwide found that more than half reported a 100% improvement in email ROI in 2023. An additional 5.7% saw their returns quadruple, while only 12.9% reported no improvement at all.
Email outperformed banner ads and SMS marketing by 108% in 2023
Compared head-to-head with other common digital tactics, email delivered more than double the ROI of banner display ads and SMS campaigns in 2023. It also outperformed social media posts by 13% and social media ads by 11%, reinforcing email's place as the highest-returning owned channel.
18% of companies achieve email marketing ROI greater than $70 for every $1 invested
While the industry average sits at $36 to $42 per dollar, a meaningful segment of high-performing businesses more than doubles that benchmark. This gap is typically driven by strong list segmentation, personalization, and consistent A/B testing practices.
Retail and ecommerce businesses earn an average ROI of $45 for every $1 spent on email
Industry-level data from Litmus's State of Email shows that retail, ecommerce, and consumer goods companies outperform the overall average. Tourism leads all industries at $53 per dollar spent, followed by media at $45 and retail/ecommerce at $43 to $45.
In 2024, automated emails drove 37% of all email-generated sales despite making up just 2% of email volume
Omnisend data shows that automated email workflows, including welcome series, cart abandonment, and browse abandonment flows, generate a disproportionately high share of email revenue. This means a small investment in automation infrastructure can deliver a substantial portion of total email-driven income.
42% of marketers say email is their most effective channel, versus 16% each for social media and paid search
When marketing professionals are asked which channel delivers the best results, email is the clear leader by a wide margin. Social media and paid search tie for second place at 16% each, showing that email's ROI advantage translates directly into marketer confidence and budget allocation.
Email marketing acquired 40 times more new customers than Facebook and Twitter combined, per McKinsey
A McKinsey study on how US companies generate new customers found email to be dramatically more effective at customer acquisition than social media platforms. This makes email not just a retention tool but one of the most cost-efficient acquisition channels available to businesses of any size.
AI Adoption and Personalization Trends
Artificial intelligence and personalization are reshaping email marketing. In 2023, 57% of enterprise marketers adopted AI-powered email tools, and 77% of marketers reported increased engagement through personalization. These trends show the shift toward smarter, more targeted campaigns.
63% of marketers now use AI tools in their email marketing campaigns
As of 2024-2025, nearly two-thirds of email marketers have adopted AI tools to personalize content, automate email generation, and analyze customer behavior. This marks a clear shift from early experimentation to mainstream use across teams of all sizes.
87% of businesses that adopted AI use it specifically to enhance email marketing
Email is the primary focus for companies investing in AI technologies, signaling that marketers see the inbox as the highest-leverage channel for applying machine learning, personalization, and automation at scale.
45% of email marketing teams used AI to help create email content in early 2024
Litmus surveyed nearly 1,000 marketers and found that nearly half were already using AI in content production, with adoption accelerating quickly. This represents a major jump from prior years and reflects growing trust in AI-generated copy and design assistance.
34% of email marketers already use AI for copywriting, making it the most common AI-assisted task
According to Litmus, AI-assisted copywriting leads all other AI use cases in email marketing. This adoption is driven by time savings, with the majority of marketing teams now producing emails in under one week, down from two weeks or more in 2023.
AI-driven personalization boosts email revenue by 41% and click-through rates by 13.44%
Marketers using AI specifically for email personalization report a measurable 41% increase in revenue alongside a 13.44% lift in CTR. These numbers make the business case for moving beyond generic batch-and-blast campaigns to behavior-based, individually tailored messaging.
Personalized email subject lines increase open rates by 26%, and personalized emails generate up to 6x higher transaction rates
Two distinct personalization tactics deliver measurable results: subject line personalization lifts open rates by 26%, while fully personalized email content drives up to six times more transactions than non-personalized campaigns. Together, these figures show that personalization pays at every stage of the email funnel.
In 2023, 65% of marketing professionals sent more than half of their email campaigns with subject line personalization
A global survey covering marketers across 13 countries found that subject line personalization had become standard practice by 2023, with nearly two-thirds deploying it in the majority of their sends. The remaining 9% who skipped personalization entirely were increasingly in the minority.
57% of Gen Z and 55% of millennials rate email personalization as extremely or very important, versus only 25% of baby boomers
Litmus research from 2024 reveals a sharp generational divide in personalization expectations. Younger subscribers not only demand tailored content but are also more willing to share data to enable it, with 51% of Gen Z comfortable sharing personal data for personalized email experiences compared to just 20% of boomers.
Mobile Optimization and Device Usage
Mobile devices dominate email consumption, with 61% of users checking email primarily on smartphones. Over half of all email opens now occur on mobile, making mobile-responsive design non-negotiable. This trend continues to strengthen as mobile adoption grows globally.
55% of all emails are opened on mobile devices
Mobile has overtaken every other environment as the primary place people read email. Marketers who design for desktop first are effectively optimizing for a shrinking minority of their audience.
41.6% of email opens come from mobile clients, compared to 40.6% via webmail and just 16.2% via desktop
Data from Litmus tracking billions of email opens shows mobile has definitively surpassed desktop as the dominant reading environment. Desktop now accounts for less than 1 in 5 opens, making desktop-only design a critical strategic error.
In July 2023, 56% of email marketing professionals reported plans to optimize email design for mobile devices
Despite mobile dominating opens, a significant portion of marketers are still playing catch-up on mobile optimization. This gap represents a direct competitive opportunity for teams that prioritize mobile-first design.
70% of poorly rendered emails are deleted within 3 seconds on mobile
According to research cited by Campaign Monitor and Adestra, if an email does not display correctly on mobile, users delete it almost immediately regardless of content quality. An additional 15% will unsubscribe rather than simply delete.
67% of Gen Z and 59% of Millennials use smartphones as their primary device for reading email
Younger, high-purchasing-power audiences are overwhelmingly mobile-first email users. For brands targeting Gen Z or Millennials, mobile-optimized email design is not optional: it is the baseline expectation.
Nearly 1 in 5 email marketing campaigns is still not optimized for mobile devices
Despite the dominance of mobile opens, approximately 20% of campaigns are sent without proper mobile optimization. This represents a measurable, avoidable loss of engagement, clicks, and conversions for those senders.
Responsive email templates increase unique mobile click rates by 15%
Mailchimp data shows that switching to responsive email design produces a measurable lift in mobile click-through rates. For high-volume senders, a 15% click rate improvement from a design change alone is a significant return with minimal added cost.
75% of Gmail users access their accounts on a mobile device
Gmail is the most widely used email client globally, and the vast majority of its users open email on smartphones. Since Gmail renders emails in specific ways on mobile, optimizing for the Gmail mobile experience is particularly high-leverage for most email programs.
Automation, Segmentation, and Best Practices
Email automation and list segmentation deliver measurable results. Automated emails show 52% higher open rates and 332% higher click rates compared to standard campaigns. Segmented campaigns achieve 14% higher open rates and generate 760% more revenue, proving the power of targeted approaches.
In 2023, automated emails generated 41% of all email orders while accounting for only 2% of emails sent
Omnisend's analysis of over 23 billion marketing emails found that automated messages deliver a dramatically outsized share of revenue relative to their send volume. For ecommerce brands in particular, this makes automation the single highest-leverage email investment available.
Automated emails achieve a 42.1% open rate and a 5.4% click rate, compared to 25.1% and 1.5% for standard campaign emails
Omnisend's 2023 full-year data shows automated emails outperform broadcast campaigns in every key engagement metric. The nearly 4x difference in click rates reflects the power of sending messages triggered by subscriber behavior rather than a fixed calendar schedule.
Segmented email campaigns produce 760% more revenue than non-segmented campaigns
Data from Campaign Monitor and DMA consistently shows that list segmentation is the highest-impact tactic for email revenue growth. Sending the right message to the right audience segment removes the noise that drags down conversions in generic broadcast sends.
Segmented campaigns score 14.31% more opens and 100.95% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns
Mailchimp's analysis of 2,000 users running 11,000 segmented campaigns found that segmentation improves both reach and action. Bounce rates, abuse reports, and unsubscribes were all lower in segmented sends, meaning segmentation also protects sender reputation.
78% of marketers say subscriber segmentation is the single most effective email marketing strategy
HubSpot research ranks segmentation above message personalization (72%) and email automation campaigns (71%) as the top tactic for campaign performance. Despite this consensus, many email programs still rely on unsegmented broadcast sends.
Automated flows generate up to 30x more revenue per recipient than one-off campaign emails
Klaviyo's analysis of over 325 billion emails shows that behavior-triggered flows such as abandoned cart, welcome series, and post-purchase sequences dramatically outperform standalone campaign sends on a per-recipient revenue basis. The timing and relevance of automated messages is the key driver.
Marketers who A/B test their emails see an 86% higher email ROI compared to those who never test
Litmus data shows that consistent testing, including QA, A/B, and spam testing, produces an average ROI of $42 per $1 spent versus $23 for non-testers. Regular testing is one of the clearest ways to compound returns without increasing list size or send frequency.
One in three people who click on an automated email make a purchase, compared to one in twenty for campaign emails
Omnisend's 2023 ecommerce data shows that automation converts at roughly 6x the rate of standard campaign emails, with welcome and cart abandonment automations converting nearly one in two clickers. This conversion gap makes automation a direct revenue driver, not just an engagement tactic.
Frequently Asked Questions
A good open rate depends on industry. Across all industries, the average ranges from 21% to 43%, with top performers reaching 45%+. Government and healthcare sectors average 46%+, while retail averages 16-20%. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection has inflated these numbers since 2021, making click-to-open rate (CTOR) a more reliable metric.
The average email click-through rate across industries is 1.4% to 3% in 2024-2026. However, this varies significantly by industry. Legal services and nonprofits perform above 6%, while retail and software industries hover around 1%. Automated emails consistently outperform at 5.4%, and abandoned cart emails reach 6.25% CTR.
Yes. Email remains one of the highest-ROI marketing channels, delivering $36-$42 for every $1 spent. In 2024, 50% of consumers made direct purchases from emails, and email outperformed social media by 13%. Email is 40x more effective than social media for customer acquisition and continues to be a critical channel for retention and revenue.
Significantly. In 2023, 57% of enterprise marketers used AI-powered email tools, up from 26% in 2022. By 2025, 70% of US marketers employed generative AI in their work. AI adoption has reduced production time from 2+ weeks to under one week, and 95% of marketers using AI-generated content reported positive results.
Sources
All statistics on this page are sourced from the following 42 references.
- 1EmailTooltester, Email Usage Statistics (2026)
- 2Statista via Omnisend, Email Marketing Statistics 2026
- 3EmailTooltester, How Many Emails Are Sent Per Day (2026)
- 4Statista via Cisco Talos Intelligence Group (2024)
- 5Omnisend, Email Marketing Statistics 2026
- 6Porch Group Media, 100 Compelling Email Statistics (2026)
- 7Statista via Blogging Wizard, Email Marketing Statistics for 2026
- 8Omnisend Email, SMS, and Push Marketing Statistics for Ecommerce (2024 Report, covering 2023 data)
- 9GetResponse Email Marketing Benchmarks Report (2024, covering 2023 data)
- 10eMarketer Industry KPIs: Email Marketing Metrics (2024, citing GetResponse 2023 data)
- 11GetResponse Email Marketing Benchmarks Report (2024, covering 2023 data)
- 12Statista (2023), cited in GetResponse Email Marketing Statistics
- 13MailerLite Email Marketing Benchmarks (2025)
- 14Litmus State of Email (cited via Litmus.com, 2023-2024)
- 15Mailmodo / Statista (January 2024)
- 16OptinMonster Email Marketing Statistics (2023-2025)
- 17Campaign Monitor / Barilliance (cited via OptinMonster, 2025)
- 18Litmus State of Email / Mayple (2023-2024)
- 19Omnisend Email Marketing Statistics (2024)
- 20Designmodo Email Marketing ROI Statistics (2024-2026)
- 21McKinsey and Company (cited via Campaign Monitor)
- 22ArtSmart AI: Statistics of AI in Email Marketing (2024)
- 23Litmus State of Email Innovations Report (2024)
- 24Litmus: Email Marketing Trends for 2026 (2025)
- 25DemandSage: 89 Email Marketing Statistics (2026)
- 26InboxAlly: Ultimate List of Email Marketing Statistics (2026)
- 27Statista: E-mail Marketing Personalization Usage Rates Worldwide (2023)
- 28Litmus: State of Email in Lifecycle Marketing (2024)
- 29HubSpot / eMarketer (2023)
- 30Litmus Email Analytics (cited by Mailmodo, 2025)
- 31Shopify Email Marketing Statistics (2023)
- 32Adestra / Campaign Monitor (cited by Porch Group Media, 2025)
- 33OptinMonster Email Marketing Statistics (2024)
- 34SuperOffice (cited by Porch Group Media, 2025)
- 35Mailchimp (cited by OptinMonster and Tabular, 2024)
- 36Sender.net Email Marketing Statistics (2024)
- 37Omnisend Email, SMS, and Push Marketing Statistics Report (2024)
- 38Campaign Monitor Email Marketing Benchmarks
- 39Mailchimp Email Marketing Benchmarks
- 40HubSpot Ultimate List of Email Marketing Stats
- 41Klaviyo 2024 Email Marketing Benchmarks by Industry
- 42Litmus Email Marketing Statistics (via Tabular Email, 2025)
